Mills



UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PEPPER, JR., OF PORTSMOUTH,

NEw HAMPSHIRE, AssIGNoR To THE FRANKLIN MILLS.

KNITTINGMACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 12,046, `dated December5, 1854;'Reissued October T0 all wit-0m t 'may concern Be it known thatI, JOHN PEPPER, Jr., of Portsmouth, in the county of Rockingham andState of VNew Hampshire, have invented a new or Improved Machine forKnitting Ribbed Work; and Ido hereby declare that the nature of my saidinvention and the man.- ner in which it is to be-performed areparticularly described and represented in the following specificationand the accompanying drawings/letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1, denotes a top view; Fig. 2, a frontelevation; and Fig. 3, a central, vertical and transverse section of mysaid machine; Fig. 4, is an underside view of the stationary cam plateof it to be hereinafter described.

In constructing my said invention, I employ, First. A series of hookedneedles (such as are used in hosiery looms) standing vertical andarranged inl a'circle (and with their upper ends on a level) and affixedto a frame or wheel made to revolve horizontally. Second. Another seriesofsuch'needles placed within the first and arranged in one plane andstanding in radial directions .from a common' center and having theirplane so inclined tothe plane of the upperL edges of the first series ofneedles as to cut itand dip below it on one side and rise above it onthe other side of it; the needles of the second series'being projectedfrom slides or bars supported on and made to slide on the top of a ringor frame, that is placed within the frame of the. first series ofneedles and concentric with it, and' made to rotate freely with it.Third. A stationary cam plate (or its equivalent) so made and applied tothe slides ofthe second series of needles as to actuate them withrespect to those of the first series in the proper manner and at theproper times for the performance of the ribbed work or fabric.

Fourth. A rotary toothed sinker wheel so made and applied to the firstseries of needles as to lay the yarn on them and in their hooks as maybe necessary to the formation of loops on the second series of needles.Fifth. Two rotary wheel presser-s, one of which is applied to each setor series of needles and so arranged as to close the barbs vor hooks ofits needles down v upon theshanks thereof at the proper time 'of itsneedle.

so combined and. arranged constitute a comf and just previous to thepassage of the barb through the loop that may be on the n'shank Theparts above mentioned bination, which may be considered as containingthe principle or nature of my -invention. To such I have added certainimprovements, viz, a means of readily removingfany of the needles of thesecond series from the rest of such series, in case of accident, or whendesirable. Also a means'of regulating the distance of back motion ordrafts of the lowest needles of the second series.

The first series of hooked needles is represented at (L, a, a, etc., inthe drawings. n The needles of such series areshown as arranged in acircle and made to stand vertically and with their upper ends on alevel. The said i elevated on the bed-plate or main frame, C,

of the machine.

A series of geary teeth, c, c, c, etc., is arranged on and around theexternal surface of the fr`ame,4A. When the machine is to y be operated,these gear teeth are made to engage with a suitable driving gear orpinion put in revolution by some proper driving power, and thus theframe, A, and the first series ofl knitting needles are vput in -Yrotation.

The next, or second series of hooked needles is seen at o, b, b, etc.Each of the said needles is made to project from one of a series ofslides, d, d, d, etc.; one of such slides and its needle beingrepresented in Fig. 5 in side view. n

The second series of needles is placed within the first series anddisposed inV one plane. series are arranged in. radial directions fromone common center asseen in Fig. 5. Their plane is so inclined to theplane of the upper edges of the first series of needles as to cut it anddip below it on one side and rise above it on the other side of it. Y

The several slides d, d, cl, etc.,4 of the The several needles of thesecond needles b, b, b, etc. are supported by and f made to slide on thetop of a circular ring, wheel or frame D, that is made t-o turn freelyon a stationary axle, E, whose axis is arranged to stand perpendicularto the plane of the second series of needles.V This axle projectsdownward from a cross bar, F, which is supported over the needles by twoposts or standards Gr, H, arranged as seen in the drawings, adjustingscrews and nuts being applied to the tops of the standards as seen at,f, f, in order to regulate the elevation of the second series of needleswith respect to the first series.

The positions of the `two barbs, g, n, of two adjacent needles of thetwo series of needles are shown in the drawings, the barbs or hooks ofthe iirst series being made to stand on their outer sides, while thoseof the second series are arranged on the upper sides of their respectiveneedles.

Attached or fastened to the axle, E, is a stationary cam plate, I, whichis arranged in a plane parallel to that of the second series of needlesand has a lip or flanch, i, extended downward from it or near its edge,for about five sixths of its circle as seen in Figs. 3 and 4. Theremainder of the lip is not circular but is formed of a spring plate,79, that is attached to the plate, I, by two screws, Z, Z, thatpassthrough holes made through the spring plate and of somewhat larger sizeor diameter, than that of the shanks of the screws. Through the middleof the spring plate a screw, m, is screwed and made to abut against t-hecam plate. By turning up the screw, the middle of the spring plate isthrown outward. By reversing the screw or turning it back the middlepart of the spring plate is suffered to move inward. This addition ofthe spring plate to the circular part of the lip of the cam, or in otherwords the making a part of the said lip capable of being sprung ormoved, and by an adusting screw [or its equivalent] applied to itaffords to us a means of regulating the extent. of back motion or draftof the lowest needles of the second series, the spring plate beingapplied to such needles. The lip of the cam, I, extend into recesses ornotches made in the needle slides, as seen at, n, in Figs. 3, and 5.

Vhile a revolving motion is given to the two series of needles and theseries of needle slides of the second set of needles, the cam plate iskept perfectly stationary. It or its lip will cause the needles of thesecond series to have a reciprocating or backward and forward movement,while their slides are passing on that part of the cam lip, termed thespring plate, 7c. While the needle slides transversely on the circularpart or rest of the lip they will have no such motion, but will projectbetween' and beyond the needles of the other set as seen in thedrawings.

A part, o, of the lip is made movable and attached to a spring, p,fastened to the top of the cam plate as seen in Figs. l, and 3.

A front view of this small piece or part, 0, and a part of the lip areshown in Fig. 6. By raising the spring, the piece or part, o, can belifted from the lip, and as such part and its opening in the lip shouldbe made respectively of a greater' width than either of the needleslides, it will readily be seen that we have a ready means of removing aneedle and its slide from the frame D, and this in case of accident orwhen it may be desirable so to do.

The second set of needles are carried or moved around by and with thefirst series when it is put in revolution and during the passage of eachneedle of the second series around'its circle, it will be elevatedentirely above the needles of the iirst series, and in passing to apoint of the circle one hundred and eighty degrees, it will be caused tode scend between and below the barbs of the needles. By this peculiaroperation of the second series of needles on the irst series, the yarnlaid on the needles of the first series by the rotary toothed sinkerwheel K, is subsequently laid in the form of loops on the needles of thesecond series.

The work or fabric seen at, L, is supported on a tubular rest, M, thatextends around within the frame A, and is fastened to the baseplate ormain frame of the. machine by such contrivances as will admit of itscorrect adjustment. The upper edge of the rest, M, is extended nearly upto the undersides of the needles of the second series, there being aspace between it and the said needles suiicient for the passage of thework which hangs from the needles and within the rest, M, as seen in thedrawings.

Theyrotary sinker or toothed wheel, K, is rep-resented in top view inFig. 7, and in side view in Fig. 8. It '1s supported by and revolvesfreely within a frame, 1', that is forced toward the first series ofneedles by a spring, s, the whole being sustained on the top of astandard or post, t, `and -arranged as seen in the drawings. Near thesinker wheel is the yarn guide, N, through which the yarn is conductedto the sinker wheel. The said sinker wheel is to be constructed and-made to operate like those in use in the common French rotary knittinglooms for knitting plain or unribbed: work. Its teeth engage with therange of needles' and lay the yarn in a. corrugated crimped or wrinkledform on the needles and raise it up between their barbs and shanks orinto their hooks; the rotation of the sinker wheel beset at the propertime, or just before the stitch of a needle is to be' moved on suchneedle and castover its end or the loop on it in order to form a newstitch.

In order to keep the work down at a suflicient distance from the sinkerwheel, I make use of a narrow spring bearer, R, that is attached tothe'lower end of the stationary axle F, and made to extend upward andrest on the work as seen inl Fig. 3. In the performance of ribbed workby my machine, I make use of half the number of needles in the secondseries, that there is in the first one, they being conjointly arrangedas seen in the drawings. When a row of stitches is cast .on each seriesof needles and the machine is set to work, it will perform the operationof knitting the fabricin a tubular form.

I do not limit my invention to such a proportion of needles in bothseries.

What I claim vis- 1. The combining an annular series of hooked needlesand a series of radial and sliding hooked needles s0 as to operate t0-gether and with a rotary toothed wheel or sinker, K, and two rotarypresser wheels,

and produce ribbed work substantially as specified.

2. I also claim the improvement of making a part of the cam or lip ofthe cam plate adjustable substantially in the manner and for the purposeof removing a needle of the second series from the rest when necessaryor desirable as specied.

3. And I claim the arrangement of the second series of needles withrespect to the other or first series, that is to say, the so arrangingthem that their plane shall eut that of the upper ends of the needles ofthe first set and dip below and rise above the same as staked, such anarrangement causing the stitches of the irst set of needles to beelevated and cast off, or over the loops or yarn of the second set, bythe lifting power or action of the second series during its rotarymovement as specied.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature this sixteenth dayof Novem- JOHN PEPPER, JR.

vber A. D. 1852.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, H. HALvoRsoN.

[FIRST PRINTED 1913.]

